Horner: Webber will race in China

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has said he has 'no doubt' Mark Webber will race in China and he is also confident the Aussie will remain for the rest of the F1 2013 season

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has said he has 'no doubt' Mark Webber will race in China and he is also confident the Aussie will remain for the rest of the F1 2013 season.

Webber hinted that he might consider his future in the sport in the wake of last weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix, where team-mate Sebastian Vettel deliberately disobeyed team orders and stole the victory [see separate story]. Horner played down that speculation in the immediate aftermath and he has now reiterated that he doesn't think the Aussie will hang up his helmet.

"Mark knows there was no conspiracy within the team," Horner told Sky Sports F1 in the latest edition of the F1 Show. "We gave equality and our intention was to shut the race down and minimise the risk - particularly with the tyre degradation we had seen.

"It was the intent of the team for Mark to win the race. It wasn't that we suddenly gave Sebastian the instruction to 'go and pass your team-mate'. He is big enough to know there was no malice and no intent to create any situation like that. He is in a car capable of winning grand's prix and hopefully winning World Championships. I have no doubt Mark will see out the contract with us."

Meanwhile, Horner defended the decision to invoke team orders and insisted it was the right call from the team's perspective.

"Of course, as a purist, you want to see the drivers race - and actually the show they put on was fantastic, it was great wheel-to-wheel racing," he continued.

"But then you're steering the ship and your responsibility is to 600 people... they don't get paid on what the driver does, they get paid on what the team's constructor finish is. Then the responsibility is to make sure that the team achieves its maximum.

"It's not that difficult to translate but both our drivers in the last three races have failed to understand both of those messages. I think we're going to give up on that code. We need to probably try something else," he joked.